Intrigue: A Zootopia Fanfiction
by VeryEagerPerson
Summary: After a long recovery from his near-death experience, Nick Wilde has returned to Zootopia for the first time in almost four years. Circumstances demand his true identity remain hidden from public view ad inf., working under an alias as he and Judy try to solve a mystery that's left the city on edge while figuring out their newfound affection. Yet some figures would rather them fail
1. Prologue

**How does one begin the sequel to their first story? Explosions? Sex? Mystery and angst? Nah, none of those cliches. How about a new year, instead?**

 **I kid, of course. Intrigue will be updated once a month as long as my primary story, _A Fox in Shining Armor_ , is still being written. So on the first of every month, get ready for more hijinks and heroes, murder and mayhem, terror and trivia!**

 **Granted, I'm a few days (more like months) late on release, but I can assure you that releases will not normally be impeded. I'm still in a sort of limbo with regards to where and when I'll write, so bare with me for a few more weeks as everything gets sorted.**

 **If you're starting this without having read _Primal: A Zootopia Fanfiction_ , then I must warn you that very little of this will make any sense. I recommend in the highest degree that you take an hour or two to go and read that story first.**

 **Ima stop babbling on, now. I hope you enjoy the Prologue to the second (and now final) installment of the _Primal_ stories!**

 **WARNING: THIS STORY IS THE SEQUEL TO PRIMAL: A ZOOTOPIA FANFICTION. IVE SAID BEFORE, I'LL SAY IT AGAIN; PLEASE READ THAT STORY BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT THIS!**

* * *

The sirens were blaring louder than a roar in a surround sound theater.

Nick could feel adrenaline pouring through his limbs at a rate greater than even the most destructive monsoon storm. His muscles were numb with soreness, a pained yet determined expression rooted on his face as the whites of his crowns peeked into the blinding sunlight. Time and time again he forced his body upward, each repetition only making his core tremble to the point of complete collapse, but he had no other choice other than to push higher and harder than the last count. He knew the consequences if he didn't...

That's about when the lyrics started.

"I'm Chewie, and he some hot, Preda," The rapper passionately introduced, a bassy cacophony of instruments rising up behind his voice as he droned on about life in the slums. All Nick knew was the blood-pumping music pulsing through his earbuds, shooting up onto his feet as his set of sit-ups climaxed and descending right into a string of deep squats.

The windowed walls staring out over the endless canopy surrounding the MGRI were reflective today thanks to the cloud cover, letting him correct his form as his workout pushed on. He grinned between heavy pants, both amazed and proud of how far he'd come in a matter of weeks.

His orange pelt was thin and sleek, no longer a mix mash of short and long fur, and his colorful markings were more vibrant than ever. His long tail was groomed from tip to base, his claws trimmed and his teeth white from the insane amounts of brushing he'd done to them. Yet the biggest plus was that he didn't look like he was about to starve to death anymore! Quite the opposite, in fact.

Thanks to Doctor Zdanskyi's strategy of medicine, rest, and very hard work and a little bit of pushing from his fretful rabbit his weight has stabilized and the majority of his organs had returned to full working order. And if he was alone with his partner, he'd venture that just maybe he'd become a little more fit from before his Arctic vacation!

Carrots had left about three weeks ago along with the Chief, her annual vacation time all spent up, and he had boo-hooed until she had been forced to quit the ZPD just so she could be his housewife, washing his clothes and cooking his meals. Well, not really, even in the wildest universe.

Her job back in the city was busier than ever, if her stories over the institute's wired phone line weren't exaggerated. So busy that he hadn't seen her in the flesh for well over two weeks. He couldn't wait to get back to his old job, not just so they could end this whole long-distance-relationship thing but because he hadn't cracked some criminal neck in well over two years. Even though he was pretty sure he'd be unceremoniously relieved of duty for it, his paws were itching for the action his partner was getting!

"How are you faring today, Mr. Wilde?" A polite voice asked, barely audible over the deafening beats and raps battering his eardrums. Nick shot up from a final squat with a pumped expression and an eager smile, pulling his earbuds out and letting them dangle on his bare chest. He hopped from foot to foot like he was about to sprint down a track, kicking his heels up behind him as he gradually turned to greet Doctor Zdanskyi face on. The aged tiger had pushed through the gym's chic glass doors that led in from a partially open hallway with a pen and clipboard in his grasp and his eyes watching him intently.

"Mighty fine, Stripes, might fine," He glumly answered, coming to a standstill in front of the tiger, his lab-coated form towering above him. "Just ready to get back to my dull life."

"Aren't we all," Zdanskyi wryly replied with a heavy sigh, a sympathetic grin on his muzzle, and Nick snickered as his tail waged back and forth energetically, pleasantly surprised by the generally solemn mammal's humor.

"You are keeping your incision clean?" The tiger asked, his blue gaze moving to connect with his, and Nick nodded, inviting him to inspect the scar between his pecks with a polite grin and a motion of his paw.

Doctor Zdanskyi accepted the opportunity gratefully, kneeling down to his eye level as he pressed an ear against his chest, listening to his heart beat away like a war drum while Nick moved his paws behind his back, his gaze wandering aimlessly around the room's workout equipment as he waited for the all-clear.

"Clean and steady, just like it should be," Doctor Zdanskyi eventually noted, pulling away while he scribbled down the diagnosis, and Nick beamed up at him with an outrageous amount of pride in his grin, knowing fully well the tiger wouldn't take the bait for him to make an extra snarky comment.

"When you're out of my care I'll make sure to send you with a year's supply of Dormicine," The aging mammal promised, rising with a grunt, his tail straightened behind him. "I'll have more shipped in via Todderdam this weekend. Do you have enough pills to last until then?"

"Yup, and enough painkillers to last a lifetime," Nick quaintly assured, rising up onto the balls of his feet as a pondering frown ruffled his brow. "They give them out here like it's Halloween every day. I could start a drug ring with all the bulk I have."

"Rhetoric like that will land you in prison," Doctor Zdanskyi dryly warned, more concerned with finishing his form than idly chatting. Nick used the silence in the air to wander over to the gym's far glass wall, not rushing his steps as he squeezed between two rhino-sized treadmills lined up against the thick, transparent panel. He gazed out blankly across the impenetrable, seemingly endless jungle and the raging river that wound through it like a highway until his tail flicked and lowered in dissatisfaction.

"Come on, Doc, aren't you gonna tell me when I'll be let out of this luxury jail cell?" He asked, turning his pleading gaze over his shoulder as his ears pressed against his skull, and the tiger looked up from filling out his form with a serious spark in his eyes.

"That's not my decision to make," He informed, moving towards the doors he had entered through with his clipboard and pen under his arm. "Physically your tests show you're fit enough to return to duty, so long as you keep taking two of those pills a day. It's the Mayor and Chief Bogo who're taking their time ensuring your return to society is as seamless as possible."

"Well I hope they're quick, otherwise I might bolt back to Zootopia and disappear without a trace," He emptily threatened, more annoyed than angry, and his emerald gaze retreated back to stare out the window intently. "The security here isn't too enviable. Sure, I'd have to spend s few days in the jungle, but hey, at least it's not the Arctic."

"That it is not, Mr Wilde," Doctor Zdanskyi absentmindedly agreed, holding open the Gym's door behind him for a moment as he departed with a farewelling nod of his head. "I'll be back in ten with Trainer McCollie."

A sigh escaped past Nick's lips as the doors clicked shut, leaving him in his own company once again. He stood at the window for a few long seconds, studying his own orange and white reflection before he turned and stepped onto the oversized treadmill beside him.

"Grey and dark green are my least favorite colors, you know," He pointedly told the window, straining his paw up onto the high console and setting the treadmill's pace to 'As swift as a fox'. It took the machine a few seconds to catch up to the speed, but when he found himself panting again he plugged his earbuds in and was immediately greeted by another sweat-inducing slur of racy words.

"I've come to like purple," He casually admitted, steepening the incline of his sprint and speeding up his pace even further.

* * *

Judy's purple eyes snapped shut as she collapsed face-first onto her tiny bed, her limbs sprawling lifelessly across it and her ears falling like boulders onto her sweaty back. The bags that had been accumulating like snow under her eyes for the last exhausting days dragged her towards the sleep she so desperately craved, but with a groan she forced herself to roll face-up, her right arm lying across her core as she stared up at the orange evening sunlight making the discolorations in her ceiling even more noticeable.

"I've got to ask that Gnu upstairs to fix his pipe," She unenthusiastically murmured, watching the blades of her ceiling fan spin in a lopsided circle, sending cool air flowing over her lower body.

"And I'll have to turn the heat on soon, too," She tepidly added, sighing at the prospect of struggling to use her barely-functioning, ancient heater while she orientated her body so that her feet hung limply off the edge of her bed. With another loud groan she pulled herself into a slumped sit, suppressing a wince and grimacing in pain as her sore muscles fought against her stiff movements. What she wouldn't give to be a permanent resident of Nick's warehouse...

That lazy fox that had forced her paw to get him to follow the doctor's orders was still at the MGRI. It'd been weeks since she had last visited him, and their daily phone calls, the only time she'd be able to hear his voice, only lasted a few minutes at most thanks to the Institute's restrictions.

She had used the last of her yearly allowance of vacation days earlier on in his nearly 6 week recovery, and the sole day every week she got off nowadays she always spent filling out the paperwork for cases she worked every other day of the week. There were several especially that had drained her of both energy and mental strength; a car theft in front of the city council during broad daylight, a hit and run in an industrial zone in Sahara Square, and an attempted arson in Little Rodentia, to name a few.

It was hard enough solving cases with the other partnerless officers that varied in her cruiser's passenger's seat on a day-to-day basis, but on some days she was forced to work alone - left to gather evidence, interview witnesses and suspects, file charges on lawbreakers, and then come home to fill out every last smudge of paperwork - all of it by herself! Thank Gosh she was getting her partner back soon, otherwise she wasn't too sure she'd be able to even crawl out of bed by the end of the month.

With a heavy blink she rose onto her unsteady feet, trudging to her desk chair and dragging herself and her paper-laden knapsack up onto it. They both weighed as much as lead, or at least they felt like it, and she wasn't able to do anything more than throw her bag onto her empty desk, flick her lamp on and open up her laptop with her right paw as her left stripped her of her protective vest, leaving her in her unwashed skin-tight suit.

Even though Nick was coming back to the force ready and raring the exact date of his return was still hidden behind the Mayor's secretive curtain. There had been several times during the last few weeks when she had strolled by Chief Bogo's closed office door to overhear him and the lion talking via phone, but the two or three occasions she had been able to eavesdrop had only left her baffled. Even her long ears couldn't decipher the other half of the confusing conversation.

What was certain, though, was that Nick Wilde wasn't going to be Nick Wilde in the ZPD, or in public, from now on. He'd have to memorize a backstory, childhood, and the character of a completely fabricated individual with a new name and new interests. All of this was to cover up his existence; if the media caught wind that he was still alive and in one of the most coordinated witness protection programs ever constructed who would know what exactly the public reaction would be? Maybe it would all turn out OK, but it wasn't a roll of the dice neither she or the Mayor was willing to risk.

 _When we're alone or with some of the others who know what's happened he'll be able to be his sly foxy self._ She hopefully reassured, clicking open the Zoogle Chrome icon on her taskbar and piloting to the ZPD's online database. She stretched her entire body at once once she had signed in, cracking her fingers and squeezing her eyes shut as she popped her neck out and arched her back.

"I need some coffee right about now," She wistfully admitted as she moved to lean over her keyboard, her gaze cutting over to a daisy shaped coaster with a day old Starbuck's cup on it.

Her fingers began to fill out form after form without her brain being truly invested in the paperwork. It was the same, monotonous information time and time again, recalling the same events over and over, a necessary job but by far her least favorite part of being an officer of the law. A half hour passed in a blink of her worn eyes, then an hour, and finally two before her paws finally stopped tapping her laptop's keys.

A vibrant buzz in her pocket had drawn her attention away from the angelic white light of her screen, and as she pulled out her phone and read over the incoming caller ID a thankful grin rose on her muzzle. A tiny sigh of relief that the boredom of paperwork would be temporarily nullified slipped past her lips as she swiped the answer button.

"I thought I told you not to call unless it was an emergency," She sarcastically scolded, raising the phone up to her perked ear along with a critical eyebrow.

"How would you like me to reply to that?" The unmistakeable voice on the other line joshed, and Judy grimaced wider at the characteristic tone of the tod. "For, 'Being away from you is an extreme emergency and I will always need your love and support!', press 1. Alternatively, for, 'I'm being burned alive by some smartass cute little bunny! Help!', press 2."

"Har har," She mockingly chimed back, rolling her eyes as she leaned into her chair, her left paw fiddling with the peeling veneer along the edge of her desk. "Just you wait until I get my paws on you, you dumb fox."

"Oh, believe me, I can't wait," Nick lewdly guaranteed, and Judy suppressed an offended scoff as she slowly shook her head back and forth, her cheeks as red as freshly picked tomatoes. Truth be told she could hardly wait too, given how their first time - and their last, she might add - had been interrupted by an infuriated Doctor Zdanskyi before she'd experienced even the slightest twitch in pleasure.

"Work as tiring as always, fluff?" Nick buzzed a tad more humbly, sounding genuinely interested about her day despite its forgettableness.

"You bet your tail," She wearily exhaled, briefly shutting her eyes as her shoulders sagged, and when her vision returned she was staring out her apartment's small window overlooking the artificially lit yellow street. "I've been blowing through papers since about 8. I haven't eaten dinner yet, I'm so busy. I can't wait for you to get back to the city so I can dump this load of crap on you every night for the next year."

"If you do that, I'll accuse you of unjust and cruel treatment," Nick coolly told, and Judy chuckled at his semi-serious tone, her chest warming up. "Jeez, since 8? Take the evening off. You've been busy enough these past few nights."

"Justice never sleeps," She replied, her toothy grin closing while Nick scoffed, and she could picture him shaking his head with a worried yet sarcastic frown entrenched on his brow.

"Chief Bogo is an incompetent imbecile if he thinks he can keep on pushing you this far day in and day out," Nick frustratedly commented, but his tone lightened up again and Judy straightened her form as her eyes moved back to her computer screen. "Hey, talking about Chief Horny, was he at the station today?"

"He was during assignments, but I didn't drop the cruiser by till late, so I dunno about then," She answered, her left paw scratching the back of her neck as curiosity rose within her like a coastal tide over where he was taking the conversation. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason," He flatly shrugged off. "It's just that a few hours ago I got a visit from some important mammals who left me with a few gigantic manila folders."

"The Chief visited you?" She excitedly cried, shooting forwards as she began to bounce up and down, eyes alight with vitality. "Nick, that's great!"

"He and the Mayor both did," Nick warmly elaborated, sounding humored by her sudden attentiveness. "I sort of got an apology for this whole thing from the two of them, but, you know, politicians. You never really know, do you? Anyways, my evening's been spent pouring over these files they left in my delicate paws. You should really see these things sometime, Carrots; they're deeper than any rabbit hole you're family's ever dug."

"So tell me about the fox who'll soon be my new partner," Judy avidly said, brushing off the sarcastic comment with a twitch of her nose, her feet still bobbing eagerly in the air in anticipation.

"No can do, Carrots, wouldn't wanna ruin the surprise!" Nick warmly chimed, disappointment marginally growing beneath her fur at his jocular reply, but soon enough her spirits were in the clouds once more. "You'll just have to contain your excitement until Monday morning."

"You're coming back this Monday?" She blurted out, hardly believing his words until he confirmed with a cool yet excited uh-huh, and her eyes darted to the seasonal calendar hanging crookedly on a rusty nail on her ugly wallpaper. "That's only a weekend away! Are you sure you'll be prepped for all the attention you're gonna get from the force? It's not like we get a new fox cop every other week."

"That's what I'm spending my every waking moment doing - I've been reading over my childhood years while we've been yapping away, and I have to say you'll either love me or despise me once you hear about it," He blithely commented, and Judy smiled at his oh-so-sure tone.

"One of those I'm already feeling," She confessed, flustered, her paw resting on her side tapping against her ribs as heat rushed over her body.

"Love you too, Judy," Nick reluctantly cooed with forced pleasure, and she pictured him rolling his eyes, sick of her romantic forays.

"Hate you, Nick," She lovingly retorted, hanging up and resting her phone beside her charger to the loud cackles of her predatory boyfriend, and she let another tired sigh slip past her raised lips as her paws returned to batter away at her laptop's keys.

"That fox is going to be the death of me," She glumly predicted, her grin widening.

* * *

 **Choose your words carefully, Judy...**

 **Intrigue: A Zootopia Fanfiction, Chapter 1 - February 1st**

 **A Fox In Shining Armor: A Zootopia Fanfiction, Chapter 16 - January 14th**


	2. Chapter One - Return

**Well well, the first chapter of a long ride! Hope it's exciting for me as it is for you all!**

 **These first few chapters are gonna be a bit tricky because it's been nearly a year since _Primal_ came to a close. I recently re-read it and was appalled by my writing style - brute and ugly - of the first few chapters. Unfortunately I don't have the hours in the day to go back and re-write half the book, so it will stay in its current format until it drives me crazy enough that I get around to doing it.**

 **I've attempted to tie in themes, plots, and details from _Primal_ into these first few chapters. There'll be quite the amount of interweaving going on, so I hope you all don't mind a few callbacks here and there. ****Since my primary story is still _A Fox in Shining Armor_ , and will remain that way for some time, I can't exactly guarantee that the release of chapters for _Intrigue_ will be as punctual as I make them out to be. I apologize in advance if this causes any problems.**

 **Before I leave you to it, I'd like to mention with a heavy heart that** ** _Intrigue_** **will be put on a brief hiatus until AFISA is done and dusted. My average chapter length has nearly-doubled over these past few years, and I'm mostly unable to continue two stories at the same time. Expect an update on _Intrigue_ at a later date (June, maybe?) when AFISA is approaching its conclusion.**

 **Edit 1, 3-4-18: Fixed Formatting issues.**

 **Let's jump straight into this first adventure, shall we?**

* * *

Judy couldn't stop her gaze from darting back to the station's clock, hanging behind the front desk as it ticked away, every second painfully slow.

 _7:17, Nick._ She impatiently thought, her foot tapping apprehensively as she turned back to the station's sunlight-stained glass doors, her ears straight and eyes searching amid the bustle of the morning commons. _Eight minutes 'til assignments. Better get your tail here soon..._

Another idle minute flew by, followed closely by a second, and then a third. Her frowning gaze fell to the floor as she let loose a curt sigh, her arms crossing over her tight chest while her already speedy tapping increased tenfold. This would be the first time she saw her partner in a battle-ready state ever since he left for Arctic One. Excitement bubbled beneath her fur as much as apprehension did; she'd grown so used to seeing him with wintry fur and a sickly thin body that the thought of him being as muscular as before made her ears rush with red.

 _But that's not even the half of it._ She reminded herself, stifling a gulp as her expression became marred by worry. _He's not Nick Wilde anymore. At least, not to anyone except me..._

The Mayor's brilliant plan was to slip her partner back into society under a thoroughly detailed guise, that she knew _nothing_ about. She hadn't been told if he'd look different, if he'd smell different, if he'd _be_ different. She didn't even know his alias! Being kept in the dark made her furious nine times out of ten, but this morning and last night it had left her more sleepless and stressed than fuming. At the end of the day she'd be working with a friend she'd thought gone forever.

"What's going on in that fluffy head of yours, Judy?" Clawhauser politely spoke up, leaning over his desk and staring down at her with a fascinated expression and powdered sugar around his muzzle. "I haven't seen you this nervous since that outbreak of fleas that one summer!"

"Don't remind me of that," She curtly replied, rubbing the sides of her skull and shuddering as her mind dragged up that suppressed memory, but she turned up to the chubby-faced cheetah with a clear smirk once she'd swept it back under. "I'm just a little nervous at the buzz that a fresh recruit starts today, and that the Chief's assigning him as my partner."

"You really think that's true?" Clawhauser asked, ears high but doubt rife in his gaze, and Judy couldn't help but grin at his giddiness that almost instantaneously erupted into amazement. "Wow! I never thought that'd ever happen after... well, _everything_. I'm so sorry If I sound rude, but are you sure you're ready for a new partner?"

"You have no idea, Ben," She merrily reassured, arms crossing over her uniform again in concerted anticipation while her ears shot high and folded comically over each other. "Fingers crossed he's as skillful as Wilde!"

"You bunnies, always looking on the brighter side of the fence!" Clawhauser lightheartedly laughed, waving a downward paw at her before he sat his plump cheeks in his palms, his perky tail swaying behind him. "So what's this guy like? Have you met him before?"

"We've been in touch, but only a little bit," She warmly explained, cheeks blushing as she pictured her words _very_ literally, paws curling awkwardly around her biceps, and she distantly watched as Clawhauser glanced across the common's floor as a tide of cool morning air rushed indoors. "All that I know is that he's a-"

"Fox!?" He exclaimed in utter disbelief before she could finish, eyes and mouth agape as he flew straight out of his office chair. Her heart skipped a beat as her stare whirled towards the station's glass entrance, and her jaw dropped to the ground when she saw who was striding through the bright doorway.

Nick was clad in a brand-new uniform, a ceremonial golden badge pinned to his chest and an impenetrable pair of thick, black sunglasses concealing his eyes that stared straight ahead. His characteristic grin wasn't present on his sleek muzzle, but his coat had thinned to a summer length while his fur had transformed a shade lighter, making the white under his snout stand out like blood on snow.

He took a sip of his steamy coffee as he waltzed across the commons in an orderly manner, not giving even the slightest flick of his well-groomed tail to reveal the emotions behind his expressionless face. That didn't stop Judy from quickening her breaths at his unhurried approach, her mouth agape and her chest pounding to the point of pain as she studied the muscular build beneath his button-up shirt and his foreign cover-scent that forced her nose to twitch erratically. Had she not known his true identity, she wasn't certain she'd ever crack it using her own sleuthing skills!

Her gawking mouth snapped shut and her paws fell politely to her sides as he strolled within earshot after what felt like an eon of being lost in her own bewilderment. Her fur heated beneath her bodysuit and her ears shot stiff when she realized the idle chatter from her scattered coworkers had faded, leaving a stunned silence in the cavernous room; aside from a few whispers and footsteps. The entire station seemed to be watching the two of them, yet all she heard was her own thumping heartbeat echo as he strolled to a stop beside her, not so much as an ear perked in her direction as his pursed lips took another sip of his beverage.

Judy had to clench her fists and bite the inside of her cheek to halt the burning urge to scream in excitement and leap onto him with everyone around as witnesses. Her zealous exhilaration at being this close to her partner, even in disguise, after seeing him thoroughly vulnerable and unsteady only a few weeks before made itself known in her wide pupils, her expectant face leaning towards his as her ears stretched higher, her swollen chest begging for him to say something, _anything_!

Her neck went rigid when her prayers were finally answered, his face stiffly glancing down at hers, a sole finger pulling his sunglasses down his muzzle. She inhaled a breath of surprise as two exceptionally blue eyes pried into her very soul.

"Hopps?" Nick curiously pushed in a light Vulch **[1]** accent, his impassive glare flicking over her from head to toe without even the slightest sign of the enthusiasm that broiled beneath her own fur.

"That's me!" She over-enthusiastically exclaimed, a wide, nervous grin growing on her muzzle as her paws raised awkwardly halfway up her sides, as though she was halfheartedly inviting him into a hug. "It's a pleasure to welcome you to the force, Officer…?"

Nick didn't reply immediately, taking a few extra moments to study her unnerved expression critically, enough time to let a gnawing silence hang in the air. When he finally did speak he readjusted his sunglasses back over his eyes and coolly downed another sip of his coffee.

"Vos **[2]** ," He flatly answered, strolling off from her side with his perky tail swaying and without so much as a tilt of an ear back to her. "I pictured you taller, and quieter, Officer Hopps."

"What..." Judy distantly started, watching limp-eared as her new partner glided down the station's array of hallways, confusion rising in her voice while a disgruntled frown entrenched into her forehead.

 _What a jerk!_ An irked voice shouted from inside her skull, her ears flattening and jaw stiffening as the silence in the room transformed into fascinated mumbles unintentionally directed at her. Nick's workplace identity would _not_ be some stuck-up, disinterested, _silent_ fox - she was certain of it! They'd just gotten off on the wrong foot; maybe this 'Vos' was just a little anxious in front of so many mammals he didn't kno- err, hadn't seen in so long! That seemed like a suitable answer.

Judy sent a quick, apologetic smile up to Clawhauser before her itching feet carried her across the commons, her cheeks burning at the scorching touch of his half-lidded gaze and ear-to-ear grin.

 _Now is_ not _the time to insinuate that stuff, Ben!_ Her mind agitatedly reprimanded. Her frown dissipated and a forced smile dominated her expression when she followed Officer Vos's scent down the station's main hallway, running up to his side and leaning around him, trying to catch his attention when he didn't stop to glance down at her.

"My apologies if I'm a bit chatty, Officer Vos," She hastily started, darting to walk in front of him with her clenched paws held politely over her cotton ball tail. "I guess you can expect I'm a little keen to know more about you, if we're going to be partners and all that."

Part of her half-expected Nick to reply with a wry grin before trading back a quip about her being an 'eager bunny', but she twitched an ear when all he did was take the final sip of his coffee and toss the paper cup into a passing bin, his sunglasses and ears still trained forward as though he couldn't be bothered sparing a glance at her.

"I'd be the same," He bluntly countered, finally managing a show of mammality with a reflective grin while a paw placed his sunglasses into his uniform's pocket, his icy eyes still faced further down the hall. "But your reputation for _flirtation_ precedes you, Officer Hopps. I'm sure you'll discover more about me in our free time, but I come to work _for_ work. If you want to know more about me, read my profile."

"Trust me, I would've if I had the files," She mumbled, showing her annoyance at being kept in the dark with a flick of her ear and a slowing of her pace – enough that the Officer slipped past her - but her senses shot to code red no more than an instant later.

"What do you mean _flirtation_?" She demanded, visibly irritated, stomping her foot and marching after Officer Vos down the thankfully noisy hallway when he didn't turn to respond. He was the one who had started flirting with her all those years ago; she had only done it because she could tell _he_ liked it!

"I don't flirt with anyone! I have _normal_ chats with friends!" She defensively explained, darting to his front and staring up at him, waiting expectantly for his reaction.

"Tell that to Officer Wilde," He tonelessly retorted with a dismissive flick of his ear, waltzing through the open doorway to the briefing room with her fuming breaths hot at his heels. "You two seemed awfully close on television."

"Oh. My. God," She growled, following him up onto a seat at the front of the room with a menacing stamp of her foot, completely ignoring the curious stare the bull to their right was giving them. "Don't bring Nick into this, Vos. We were _friends_ – nothing more."

"Reallllly?" He drawled rhetorically, raising a doubtful eyebrow while the rest of his stiff expression remained unamused, as if he wasn't doing this to rile her up but to prove a point. "From what I hear you two shared an awfully close moment in the records room one evening…" **[3]**

Gossipy chatter echoed from the corners of the room at that, and Judy felt her teeth grind as her paws clenched into fists, while her face turned a shade of tomato-red. He _remembered_ that night?! He'd been so drunk he could hardly make it to work the next morning! Had he been playing her for a fool all this time, making her think she could keep a private moment just for herself? And to top it all off, he'd just told the entire _precinct_. She'd never hear the end of it from Clawhauser; but this fox was a good as _dead_.

"Shut up, or I'll make you," She threatened with genuine, low-voiced fury almost as crimson as her flushed ears that bristled as she rose up on her heels in a fruitless attempt to match his height and levied a claw at his deadpan face.

"How?" He questioned in his robotic accent, arms folding over his chest and his expectant blue stare only fanning the flames inside her. "Chatting me up?"

Judy felt her nose wrinkle and muscles tense, incapable of hearing the gasps and childish _ooos_ that their colleagues uttered above the sound of blood roaring. That was the _last_ straw. As long as he made fun of her with humorous intent she didn't care who heard their banter, but _this?!_ She was going to wring that snarky throat of his until-

"OFFICERS!" A booming voice erupted, shaking everything not nailed down and startling Judy and the emotionless fox in front of her. Chief Bogo stormed into the room, pushing past Officer Higgins with an irritated snort, one of his hooves pointed down at them commandingly while his other clutched his clipboard and pen. "SHUT IT AND SIT DOWN."

They both obliged instantaneously, Judy clutching her paws together and snapping her jaw shut as she darted onto her rear, all her attention entirely focused on the Chief's critical glare instead of Officer Vos. He scorched her fur while the remainder of the room's chatter quieted down until her feet were fidgeting anxiously below the chair and heat pulsed beneath her cheeks.

"You two are _awfully_ talkative for your first day as partners," He warily grumbled, stalking away to the podium at the head of the room with a sharp shake of his horned head. Judy didn't need much help to hear the hidden message in his words, and she clenched her jaw even tighter and lowered her head in shameful embarrassment as her eyes cut over to Officer Vos.

Nick was a hell of a performer, she'd give him that. Her fury wasn't directed at him, no matter how much of the sly con-mammal she saw in his stoic, alert expression. Instead, it was pointed entirely at this 'Officer Vos' he was now playing. It certainly didn't help her that everything about him _wasn't_ him. His fur, his smile, his scent, even his _walk_ was different for carrots' sake! It both drove her mad and made her stop and appreciate his dedication to the carefully-constructed façade.

"To the _zero_ mammals in the room that haven't noticed, we have a new member on the force starting today," The Chief stiffly announced with a twinge of irritation still infused in his tone, and he unfolded his reading glasses as he flipped a page on his clipboard. "Officer Vos has just transferred from Hollantler. This isn't his first day on the streets, but let's show him how we do things here in the big city. Hopps, I trust you'll make a _better_ impression on our new officer than what I'm seeing now."

"Grizzoli. Johnson. Keep on the suspect from Friday," Bogo ordered, passing a red folder to the two huge mammals as they walked past the podium, and Judy perked up as the Chief pointed a finger at her, not bothering to look up. "Hopps, Vos – Sahara Square. Patrol. _Now_."

 _In_ this _heat?_ She silently exclaimed, managing a dread-filled glance out the cracked open window right beside her and feeling the humid, sticky air waft over her face. With a resigned nod and a suppressed groan she slipped from the chair, following Officer Vos across the tiled floor with her eyes focused on his rigid, light brown tail.

"Try not to spill too much blood on the seats, please," The Chief called out in farewell, a disgruntled scowl taking over his face as he stared at a grimacing grizzly bear at the back of the room. "I'm still getting flak for that stunt you pulled at the Waterhill stakeout, _Officer Bearnstien_."

Judy smirked and huffed dryly, following the Chief's glare towards the uncomfortable officer cowering under the weight of the room's stare, but her feet froze solid in the doorway when she noticed not everyone had shifted their eyes away from her.

Out of the dozens of her coworkers only a few were staring down at her and Officer Vos, who'd stalked out into the empty hallway, but it was their raw, touched expressions that made her heart thump up her throat. Officer Wolfenstein had a genuine smile painted onto his muzzle, as did a sparse pawful of her other coworkers, while Officer Rhinowitz was grinning and giddily tossing his head as though she and Vos had triggered some childish reaction inside him.

These were her colleagues who'd accompanied her and the Chief on the fateful excursion to Arctic One all those months before. Aside from the Chief, Doctor Zdanskyi, and some half-dozen of the Mayor's political associates, these were the only blue-collar mammals who knew the submerged truth about her new partner.

It dawned on her in that instant that they also probably knew about everything that'd happened since then – the exact details the Chief had spilled to them she didn't have a clue, but judging by their toothy grins they were entirely aware of the tumultuous ride they'd been on; they knew it all.

A flustered, thankful grimace took hold of her muzzle as her eyes darted between their stares, and her feet pulled her out after her partner a moment later when the rest of the room started to turn back to the Chief.

 _I suppose it was only a matter of time before that cat was let out of the bag…_ She distantly reminded herself, her eyes facing the beige tiles along her path as she squeezed a paw and brought it up to rest on her vest, a smile rising in unison. _And I haven't seen anyone that glad to see Slick since… well, when was the last time I looked in a mirror?_

 _Really, they weren't just looking at him like that._ She went on after a moment's thought, her blushing ears perking up along with her eyes when an ill-tempered horse stormed past in gym clothes, forcing her closer to Officer Vos' side. _It almost seemed like they were happy to see_ us _back together!_

Still beaming, she glanced over to her left and looked up at her partner, nearly expecting him to turn down to her with a snide remark that'd make her chirp with laughter. But the humor in his face she'd grown addicted to was all but buried beneath his stark, focused eyes, no longer the warm green so characteristic of his wry demeanor but a merciless shade of blue that somehow reminded her of her duty.

 _How the hell am I supposed to feel?_ She demanded, visibly aggravated, flexing her paws at her sides while a frown took hold on her forehead as they passed through the end of the hallway and into the cavernous commons. Excited? Anxious? _Furious?_

"I trust you'll be the one driving, Officer Hopps?" Officer Vos pressed, derailing her train of thought and rotating a nonchalant ear towards her as he popped his sunglasses back over his face. "My license is still in the mail."

"Yeah, I'll pull the cruiser around front," She tonelessly confirmed, almost hurt by the disinterest in his voice as she stared up at his deadpan tangerine face.

Sitting in the cruiser's driver's seat and starting the ignition, Judy breathed a deep sigh, her eyes focusing in on the dirty wall of the underground car park as she took a moment to collect her thoughts before she pulled out in front of the station. She remained incapable of pinpointing her emotions accurately; she was just as excited to be working with her partner again as she was nervous that someone would see right through his disguise. Maybe _stressed beyond belief_ would be a simpler way of putting it.

The road in front of the headquarters was sealed off to non-police vehicles, making the drive smooth as she pulled the cruiser over to the sidewalk and unlocked the doors. Her critical gaze remained glued to Officer Vos as he came striding from the station's doors, a manila folder in his paw and his sunglasses facing down the street like he was already scanning for crime.

He hopped in the passenger's seat and slammed the door shut, sealing them from prying ears and eyes thanks to the tinted glass. Her paws tightened around the rim of the steering wheel and nose twitched erratically as he opened the folder in his paws, not sparing her so much as a flick of his tail as he read over red-inked files.

Yet she couldn't be dissuaded so easily; she was Judy Hopps! Hero cop of Zootopia! One grim fox wasn't going to stop her from getting what she wanted. Her arms crossed over her chest as she rotated towards the silent Officer, tapping her foot impatiently and twitching an ear to send a signal for him to speak.

Her message clearly got through his thick sunglasses, cause with a wide grin he snapped the folder in his paws shut and tossed the eyepiece into the cupholders separating them before he turned to face her, his expression packed full of sarcasm and affection like a tower about to be demolished.

"Convincing enough of a performance for you, Carrots?" He dryly joked without the forced inflection of his accent, leaning towards her with a tilted eyebrow, and at the humor in his tone she scoffed and shook her head, much to his amusement.

"Nicholas P Wilde, consider yourself lucky if I don't tear your tail off by the end of today," She grumbled as she fell back into her seat, body tensing at the lighthearted chortles coming from her partner, but the irritation ruffling her ears nearly instantaneously shifted into amazement and excitement.

"I mean, you pull it off!" She hastily clarified, darting onto her knees in the oversized chair and leaning forward with her paws on her thighs, smiling wildly while her nose twitched, her bouncing body hardly believing she was sitting next to her partner on the job once again. "I don't think anyone suspected you were… erm, yourself! I mean, you look and act like you're a completely different mammal! Who are you, and what've you done with Nick?"

"Was there ever any doubt I wouldn't be able to?" He rhetorically asked, running his paws down his midsection and puffing his chest proudly.

"Yes," She mischievously answered with a bluntly honest nod, and the whites of her teeth emerged in a toothy grin when he rolled those big blue eyes of his and huffed an unamused breath.

"I can't take all the credit," He cheerfully conceded, shaking off his irritation and flicking her shoulder with the tip of his tail, a toothy, proud smile pulling at his cheeks. "Your _fuming_ tirade in front of Buffalo Brains was better than any acting I could've done, especially when I thought up that story about us making out in the records room."

"You lied about that?" She stammered, her shocked tongue working faster than her instinct to play along with his lie, flinching away with rose-red humiliation burning her cheeks while her rigid ears fell like anchors, but her eyes remained locked onto her partner's humorous face. "You mean… you didn't… know?"

"Yeah," Nick dryly chuckled, forcing her head to shrink into her shoulders shamefully as she buried herself into the padding of the driver's seat, and he studied her curiously for a second longer before his fluffed tail shot straight and all the blood drained from his expression, his body recoiling as though he'd just been shot. "Wait… what?! Are you saying we-"

"That night the unit threw a welcome back party for the Chief, after he had the flu…" She unenthusiastically confirmed before he'd finished, nodding grimly and grimacing as embarrassment razed every inch of her pelt. If she hadn't been such a _dumb_ rabbit and jumped to conclusions back in the briefing room, then there'd be no need for the awkwardness of this conversation. But on the other paw, maybe that's what made their exchange believable.

"You were drunk and making a fool of yourself, so I pulled you into records and you… sort of… got frisky…"

She crossed her arms and dug her paws between her thighs in a vain attempt to draw the crimson from her ears and cheeks, but the supple way his paws held her body off the ground and that wide grin he sent her in a drunken lust haunted her like a ghost, only expelled with a sharp clearing of her throat. From the corner of her vision she saw Nick turn to stare out his door's tinted window, his tangerine face almost back to its usual shade of red and his tail curling around his waist.

"Oh…" Was the extent of his reply. It about summed up the level of joy she felt right now, and she writhed uncomfortably and suppressed a humiliated shudder when he turned back towards her with a ruffled grimace.

"No wonder you were red-faced for the rest of the week," He nervously reminisced, shifting on his rear as he tried to deescalate the tension between them with a forced laugh. "That must've been the spark that sent your 'rabbit instincts' for me into overdrive!"

The red in her cheeks was clouding her sight in a matter of instants, and she darted onto her feet and pulled her partner by his uniform's collar, teeth bared menacingly, her ears bristling wildly, and her irate frown swimming in a concoction of embarrassment and fury.

"Hey, remember what the Chief told us, Carrots!" Nick nervously reminded, his paws shooting up innocently as the discomfort in his grimace slowly transitioned to misguided coolness. "No blood on the seats!"

"One of these times you'll push me over the edge," She growled, begrudgingly letting him fall back into his seat – not without first placing a warning step on his tail - and she returned to the steering wheel with her paws clenched into fists and her head slowly shaking.

 _This_ fucking _fox is going to get himself killed._ She silently grumbled, folding her arms over her chest as her eyes cut across to study the immortal grin on his muzzle. Her nose twitched as she picked up the strange scent radiating from his clothes, and she darted back onto her feet with a stiff flick of her ear, knowing she wouldn't be able to stay angry at him forever. Flippant jokes were just part of what made him who he was.

"How did you changed your scent?" She disbelievingly pressed, genuine curiosity pulling at her as she hopped over the gearbox between their seats and inspected his neck fur with her paws, examining the dyed roots while her nose incessantly breathed in his foreign scent. "And… how is your coat so _perfectly_ colored? It's like, abnormally natural!"

"Remember that undercover sting we got sent on in the _Baaaaad_ side of Tundratown?" He asked, his smirking stare cutting across to watch her while she ran her fingers through his soft fur, and she suppressed a groan at his atrocious pun but nodded. "It's just like then. There's a masking spray that drowns out my own musk, a dye I mix with my shampoo every morning to lighten up my coat, and the colored contacts are self-explanatory."

"What I'm really dying to hear is what you think about Officer Vos, Carrots," He went on, raising an intrigued eyebrow and tilting his ears at her as she stepped away from him to lean against the side of the gear stick while she stroked his tail. "Do you love him, or do you hate him? And don't try to swindle me, 'cause I told you it was either gonna be one or the other."

"I love the fox who _plays_ him," She drolly answered, smiling at the tickling touch of his bushy fur against her palms as she stared into his sapphire eyes with less amusement. "Vos just kinda seems like a stuck-up workaholic, though. _Definitely_ not my type, and I'm one for working a year's worth of overtime!"

"His profile says he's 'married to the job'," Nick explained, unfolding the manila folder in his lap and skipping through the walls of text that seemed thick enough to make a politician cringe. "Born and raised with blue blood. The polar opposite of the vulpine archetype and _every fox I've ever met_ if you ask me, but I'm not the one who wrote this steaming mess."

"You're not a mammal I picture as a book critic," She wittily commented, raising a critical eyebrow and ending her long brushes on his tail as he forced a pleasant huff.

"You'd be surprised," He retorted matter-of-factly, leaning towards her with a roguish grin as he snapped the unassuming folder shut and tapped his knuckles against its blank cover. "I've done a fair bit of reading in my life, Carrots, and not just comic books. The Mayor was acting like this was _top-secret_ info, when really it's about as bland as hotel coffee."

"But if you don't believe me, take it and see if it stirs your pot," He nonchalantly conceded, passing her the files with an outstretched paw, but his daring voice quickly rose. "I already know everything there is about 'Arthur H. Vos', and I don't see why my partner shouldn't be in on the secret. Besides, what's the Mayor gonna do if he wants that back? Kill me a _third_ time?"

"I'd like to see him try!" She brazenly barked, snatching the weighty folder from him and propping it open against her chest with a grin just as affectionate as it was audacious. "I'm not letting anyone _ever_ lay a whisker on you again!"

"Including yourself?" He quietly pressed, resting his chin on his folded paws as he lifted a doubtful eyebrow at her, but she brushed off his stare with an irritated roll of her eyes. She began to thumb through the filled pages, reading a few words here and a sentence there, but the life-draining monotony of the file quickly bored her, and she glanced back up at Nick in astonishment.

" _You_ ," She remarked dumbfoundedly, stressing every word with her eyes agape as she motioned between him and the file with her index finger. "Memorized all of this in only a few days? I'm really trying not to doubt you, Nick, but-"

"I bet you the week's paperwork that I can answer every question in there, Fluff," He confidently interrupted, a challenging look in his eyes that dared her to call his bluff. Needless to say, the prospect of an entire week without paperwork was enticing enough on its own, although she couldn't help but suspect the wager was about as loaded as the taser on her belt.

"You're in for it now, sweetheart!" She heartily exclaimed, pouring over a random page with as much attention she'd give a robbery case. "Let's see… what year were you born?"

"Easy - 1985," Nick casually answered without an instant's thought, his curled tail stretching as he faked a huge, disinterested yawn that made her dig through the folder more tenaciously.

"What's your mother's maiden name?" She quizzed, trying to pull more obscure details, and her fluffy tail wagged excitedly when her partner squinted and stared off distantly.

"Vilder," He carefully replied after a drawn-out moment of deep thought, and she couldn't stop a grumble from rumbling her throat at the cheeky grin that met her when she rigidly nodded.

"Lucky guess," She murmured, tapping her foot in irritation as she glanced back down and flicked through a few more pages. "But what's your favorite TV show?"

"Trick question; who has time for entertainment when they could be making the world a better place?" Nick triumphantly declared, puffing his chest and holding a fist against himself while a sarcastically duteous frown emerged.

 _Almost sounds like me before I moved here…_ She wholeheartedly reminisced, smirking at the amazement she'd felt when first seeing the station's massive structure nearly four years ago.

"I'm impressed, Slick," She proudly remarked, sliding the folder into the deep glove box and placing her paws commandingly on her hips, and he hastily ended his mischievous display and stared down at her from his knees victoriously. "I guess I'm on desk duty 'til Friday. You know your stuff about the department's newest Officer!"

"A little rabbit taught me some study tips at the academy," He warmly admitted with a doting wink, making her smirk gently and sniff affectionately as her arms folded over her hot chest, yet in the span of a breath the excitement bubbling in his expression erupted in a jocular rant. "But sweet chilis, you don't know how _amazing_ it feels to be back. I'm not cradled in a room like a crazed animal anymore, but _here_. In _Zootopia_! With you, and Clawhauser, and Finnick and Voltaire, and Mr. Big and his henchmen! It's just like old times!"

"Everyone's glad to have you back, Nick," She mildly assured, genuinely surprised at how eager he was to get back into the mundane swing of things. Her paw darted down and grasped his of its own volition, and their fingers intertwined as she reeled her catch back and held it against her chest. His handsome face lit up with compassion, a sight she'd only rarely seen before.

"I think I know who's the gladdest," He lightly murmured, cupping the side of her head with a tenderness that a few months ago she wouldn't've believed possible for him. That second her eyes were blinded by a pink curtain that draped over them, and her wobbly heart made her lip tremble as she rubbed her cheek against the press of his paw. All her senses were overcome by the soft brush of his velvety palms, the cohesion of her mind slowly beginning to unravel when the touch gently retreated.

"I don't need to take a gander in the mirror," She stammered back, blinking open her watery amethysts and beaming unsteadily while her free paw weakly clasped the back of her foxy partner's head. "I'm just so… so, so, so, _so_ happy you're back. I never thought we'd be doing this again, I never thought _you'd_ be here again, I…"

"You bunnies," He affectionately butted in, holding a finger to her lips and wiping the corners of her blurry vision with his thumbs while his supportive tail snaked along her spine, drawing her close to his creamy muzzle. "Such emotional little creatures. C'mere."

He didn't need to ask a second time. Her arms wrapped around his neck tighter than a noose and her muzzle plunged into his shoulder, her euphoric mind spinning at the feeling of his fur. She grinned and squeezed her eyes shut as his arms pulled her into a cocoon of nothing but him, their hearts thumping as one as his tail swept up behind her and the bottom of his snout dug into her shoulder blades. She had waited so long for this…

"Love you Judes," Nick quietly murmured into the tip of her ear, his voice so faint she wasn't sure if she was hallucinating it. She couldn't care less, really, because at the 'L' word Judy felt her heart leap skyward and dance among the stars, all her senses becoming lost in the fuzzy moment.

"Love you too, you big, dumb fox," She ardently retorted, burying her paws deeper into the fur bunched around his uniform's collar and trying fruitlessly to taste his natural, musky scent. His snout rubbed against the back of her skull amorously as she further buried herself into his heat, a tingling feeling echoing upwards along her arching spine. Almost instinctively she started to streak the bottom of her chin along the side of his neck, breathing heavy breath after heavy breath as she ground the flowery smell of her scent suppressant into the foreign scent hanging on his coat.

"Hey n-now, we don't want to m-mingle our scents too m-much," Nick shakily warned, the press of his paws and tail releasing from her back as he tried to nudge her off him.

 _No!_ A primitive voice echoed from some crevice beneath her skull, yet she withdrew her paws from his back and maneuvered off his lap that she'd subconsciously moved to perch on.

"R-right," She agreed with a taut nod as she scooted over onto her seat with a sharp sniff, not without a little red in her flustered cheeks from both her winded breaths and raw embarrassment. "Wouldn't want Clawhauser breathing down our necks again."

"Ah, let him," Nick casually dismissed with a downward wave of his paw and a sly glint in his sapphire eyes. "Then I can bet against his fantasies with Delgato and make some quick bank."

"There's the partner I know," She sarcastically declared with a wag of her index finger.

"And he's _gone_ ," He dryly joked in the heavy accent of Officer Vos and stealing his gaze beneath his pair of thick black sunglasses, but the grin on his muzzle betrayed his real identity. "Now let's hit the streets! We've got some criminal tail to bring to justice."

She didn't know how long she had waited, how many witnesses she'd interviewed, how many sleepless nights she'd suffered through to hear him say that, but it was more than worth it. With an excited exclamation of agreement, she started the ignition and their cruiser roared off down the sunny street.

* * *

 **[1] Vulch - Vulpine + Dutch. This'll be expanded upon in future chapters, so go listen to Dutch people or something, I dunno.**

 **[2] - Roughly translates to fox in Dutch. Not the most creative surname, but neither are most names in Zootopia, so oh well.**

 **[3] - I've actually described this encounter before in _Primal._ Head back over to Chapter 3 - Hello if you need a catch-up or are a little curious!**

 **Thank gosh some of the turmoil of the past few chapters is over! Finally a little bit of normalization - but not for long!**

A Fox in Shining Armor: A Zootopia Fanfiction CH18 - February 28th

Intrigue: A Zootopia Fanfiction CH2 - On hold until mid-2018


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